


my necklace is of rope, i tie it and untie it

by lazyfish



Series: yellow flicker beat [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Episode: s01e22 Beginning of the End, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:15:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22643977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazyfish/pseuds/lazyfish
Summary: Jemma and Fitz are at the bottom of the ocean. He loves her and she knows it - but neither of them know how they're going to get back to their soulmates alive.
Relationships: Leo Fitz/Lance Hunter/Bobbi Morse/Jemma Simmons
Series: yellow flicker beat [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1236347
Comments: 12
Kudos: 24
Collections: Ladies of Marvel Bingo 2019





	my necklace is of rope, i tie it and untie it

When Jemma woke up, her head was pounding. It took her a full three seconds to get her bearings, and when she looked over at Fitz, he was staring back at her grimly.

“We’re at the bottom of the ocean,” he said without preamble.

Jemma whipped her head towards the window in the pod, and immediately regretted the action when it caused her vision to go black around the edges. She took a deep breath and released it before turning back to Fitz, more slowly than before.

His arm was in a sling, and he looked at her with a sadness she hadn’t seen in years.

The last time he had looked at her like that, Hunter had just walked away.

“What’s happening, Fitz?” Jemma asked. She knew what she _thought_ was happening, but there had to be a different answer. There had to be a way out of this.

“We’re at the bottom of the ocean,” he repeated. “And I don’t think we’re going to be able to get back up.”

That was not what Jemma wanted to hear. She wanted to hear a theory, an idea, anything. Fitz had a brilliant brain; if he had sifted through the problem and found no solution, there probably wasn’t one.

That wasn’t going to stop Jemma from trying, though. Even if thinking hurt a little. Or a lot.

She dragged herself closer to the window, if only because looking at something had always helped her think. Staring at a blank page wasn’t helpful, but looking out into the depths of the ocean was kind of like looking at a fish tank, right? The ripple of the water, the movement of the fish, the far-off glimpses of sunlight… they had to spark something, eventually.

Unfortunately, the first thing Jemma thought of wasn’t a solution, but a question.

“Are you scared?”

Fitz fixed his eyes on her from across the pod, and nodded once. “Do you think they’ll feel it?”

Jemma felt like her windpipe was being crushed by an invisible hand. _Our paper provides evidence that members of an anima mea pairing, informally known as a soulmate bond, will undergo physical discomfort if that pairing should be broken - i.e., if one of the members of the pair dies._

“I don’t - I don’t know,” Jemma lied when she had caught her breath again. “I don’t -”

“Want to think about it,” Fitz finished for her. “What do you want to think about, then?”

“The second law of thermodynamics.” Jemma tilted her head so it was resting against the cool glass pane of the window, which soothed some of the throbbing.

“The total entropy of an isolated system can never decrease over time.”

“Or, the entropy of the universe is always increasing,” Jemma agreed. “Funny, isn’t it? The universe is trending towards chaos, and our whole existence is just spending energy so we can make a little bit of order.” Her eyes slid shut. She thought about the laws of thermodynamics often, especially when she thought about Bobbi and Hunter and how their relationship had fallen apart. Some scientists theorized soulmates were made from atoms from the same stars - that the reason they were attracted to each other was because they had once been one whole. Jemma thought that was rather fanciful, but it was a nice way to view the first law of thermodynamics. Nothing was created or destroyed, so of course one day the hydrogens that had been split by a dying star would find their way back together again.

But she saw the people she loved in the second law of thermodynamics more than anything. All three of them had swept into her life and made order out of the chaos storming inside her. And when Hunter had walked out and Bobbi had fallen out of contact, the chaos had crept back in. The entropy of the system that was Jemma Simmons had increased the moment there wasn’t anyone pouring energy into her, helping her keep herself in check.

“Funny,” Fitz said, his tone implying it wasn’t funny at all.

“We changed the world, Fitz,” Jemma murmured as she opened her eyes. “We put a tiny, tiny fraction of the universe in order for a little while. Isn’t that amazing?”

He must’ve had the same thoughts she had, because Fitz looked away.

“I miss them.”

“I know.”

Her soulmates had helped put her in order, but Jemma had helped them with their chaos, too. She had helped Bobbi become more open, and Hunter become more secure. She was their safe place, and they were hers.

“Do you think Bobbi’s alright?” Fitz asked quietly. As far as they knew, she was still in S.H.I.E.L.D., which meant…

Jemma’s stomach dropped. She hadn’t even considered Bobbi when HYDRA had appeared - there were so many people to worry about in her immediate vicinity. Her team, who were already becoming her family. And Fitz, who was the only one of her soulmates who had stayed with her.

“I hope so.” Once again the line from the paper she’d read popped into Jemma’s head. She had read it for Hunter - wanted to know if she would be able to tell if he got killed doing his job for the SAS - but never thought she’d need it for Bobbi, or that her soulmates would need it for her.

She hadn’t been in pain, though. At least no more than the pain that came with a massive betrayal and a concussion.

“And Hunter?”

Jemma’s eyes fluttered shut again. Hunter, who probably didn’t even know S.H.I.E.L.D. was falling. Hunter, who wasn’t even on their emergency forms anymore. Hunter, who…

Who might not be able to come to their funerals.

A sob caught in Jemma’s throat.

Fitz crawled over to her, wrapping his good arm around her shoulders. Jemma leaned into him. She hadn’t wanted to be close to him, earlier. There was something so absolutely morbid about dying in Fitz’s arms. No matter how much she loved him, how much she was trying to make her peace with dying beside him… she couldn’t help but think about how she would feel, if she got news Bobbi and Hunter had died holding onto each other.

It would be awful.

“What are we supposed to do, Fitz?” she asked, muffling another sob in his shoulder.

“I don’t know, Jemma.”

“I just…” She didn’t know how that sentence ended. _I just want to make order for a little longer. I just want to say goodbye. I just want to be on the other side of the glass_ -

On the other side of the glass.

“Fitz,” she breathed, pulling back from him as she frantically wiped at her face. “The glass!”

“It’s bulletproof, pressure resistant -”

“The seal -”

“The flashpoint’s too high -”

“ _Medical ethanol_!” Jemma finished triumphantly.

“Oh, Jemma Simmons, you are brilliant!” 

Fitz dragged her in, placing a hard kiss on her mouth, and Jemma indulged herself for a moment. She could kiss him, because this would not be the last time. She had to believe this wouldn’t be the last time.

They went to work, frantically pulling apart the medical kit and the defibrillator. It was like a dance, almost, one they both knew the steps to. Being partners for five years, both romantically and intellectually, made it easy for Jemma to read Fitz’s every move, to know where to go so they wasted as little time and as little oxygen as possible. They needed there to be enough oxygen for the spark to ignite, and then… freedom.

“When I flip the switch, it’ll ignite and the pressure from the outside will cause the window to break,” Fitz said as he stepped back from the window. “It’ll be like a hundred punches to the stomach, the breath’ll be knocked out of us. I’ve rigged this up so it’ll give you one last burst of air, but you have to hold onto it. It’ll get you up the ninety feet or so.” He held out a canister of oxygen with a mask attached to the end.

 _Wait_.

“Fitz -”

“I need you to tell them I’m sorry, Jemma.” Fitz stepped closer to her, laying his hand across her cheek. “I need you to tell Hunter I’m sorry my words were shite and I need you to tell Bobbi I was the one who always stole her peanut butter cups -”

“She knew that already -”

“Shh.” Fitz slid his finger down so it was covering her lips. “I need you to tell Hunter I’m sorry he couldn’t stay, and tell Bobbi I’m sorry we fell out of touch, and tell them both I’m sorry I didn’t do better at protecting you.”

“Fitz, no!”

“Jemma,” he whispered, stepping in even closer. “I did the math. I’ve got a bum arm and you’ve always been a better swimmer.” He let out a breath that whispered across her face, warm but not at all soothing. “And you’ve also always been better at putting things in order. You’re the human embodiment of a decrease in entropy. You defy the universe, Jemma Simmons, and I love you so, so much for that.”

He leaned forward to kiss her, and Jemma couldn’t resist him. She fell into the kiss, into his one good arm, into everything.

“You can’t do this to me,” she said softly when he pulled away.

“I can and I will,” Fitz answered, voice just as quiet. “One of us needs to get back to them, Jemma. I don’t know how we never saw it before now.”

She didn’t know, either. Faced now with the threat of almost certain doom, Jemma couldn’t fathom why she had ever let the loves of her life slip away. And she was about to do it again, if she let Fitz sacrifice himself for her.

 _You defy the universe, Jemma Simmons_.

She was about to see how true that was.

“One more thing,” Fitz said, tugging her back to reality as he shoved the oxygen canister into her hand. “Tell them I love them, will you?”

She didn’t even have time to nod before Fitz was lunging across the pod, slamming his hand against the detonator.

The seal blew.

The water rushed in.

Jemma took a deep breath.

She grabbed her soulmate by his hand, and she swam like her life depended on it -

Because it did.


End file.
